Fear traps us: It prevents us from growing. It prevents us from contributing to other people. It prevents us from living happy, satisfied, fulfilled, free lives.

Fear is the antithesis of freedom: it is, by definition, constricting. We often hold on to things because we are afraid to get rid of them: we fear losing those things we think we might need. We don’t just fear the loss of these things, though—we fear the loss of what these things might mean to us in some distant, hypothetical future.

The first step in any journey toward major, lasting life change is often the most difficult.,. am I right?

As I begin this journey into minimalism and intentionally simple living, I realize that this journey is no different than any other I embark on in my life, and all of my life coaching principles need to come into play in order to have lasting change and walk this out really well.

Today I’m super excited to share MY 18 goals I want to complete before 2018, and I’m challenging YOU to play along. You have until the end of 2017 to complete all 18 goals on your list.

When I sat down to make this list, I first pulled out my copy of Your Best Year 2017 and laid it down side-by-side next to my bullet journal (where I house all of my goals, agenda, to-do lists, journals and rambles. From there, making this list was fairly simple and I’m so excited to cross each item off before the clock strikes midnight on new year’s eve!